knew what to say as soon as I saw her father read the answer she gave him
I was not long in finishing what I had to do.

M. d'O---- asked if he should try to get rid of the French securities he
held in spite of the loss he would incur by selling out.

Esther's oracle replied,

"You must sow plentifully before you reap. Pluck not up the vine before
the season of the vintage, for your vine is planted in a fruitful soil."

Mine ran as follows:--

"If you sell out you will repent, for there will be a new
comptroller-general, who will pay all claims before another year has
elapsed."

Esther's answer was conceived in the sibylline style, and I admired the
readiness of her wit; but mine went right to the point, and the worthy
man embraced us joyfully, and, taking his hat and stick, said that since
our replies agreed he would run the risk of losing three million francs
and make a profit of five or six hundred thousand in the course of the
year. His daughter began to recant, and would have warned him against the
danger, but he, who was as firm as a Mussulman, kissed her again, saying,

"The oracle is not wont to lie, and even if it does deceive me this time
it will only be a fourth part of my fortune that I shall lose."

When Esther and I were alone I began to compliment her, much to her
delight, on the cleverness of her answer, the elegance of her style, and